Appropriations Committee flags hazardous-waste fund shortfall, reviews KDHE Division of Environment budget requests

Luke Drury, a senior fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Division, told the Kansas Legislature Appropriations Committee that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment——s Division of Environment requested about $108 million for FY2025 (including roughly $19.2 million from the general fund) and about $84.8 million for FY2026 (including about $3.4 million from the general fund). Drury said the FY2025 request includes a $350,000 enhancement for the hazardous-waste stabilization fund and the house position restored 8.1 FTEs that the budget committee had deleted.

The committee heard that fee revenue and federal funding for the hazardous-waste stabilization fund have declined. "We will be in the red at the end of the year if we don't receive the state general funds," Leo Henning, deputy secretary and director of environment at KDHE, told the committee. Henning also said KDHE takes fee increases seriously: "We don't increase fees unless we absolutely have to."

The Division of Environment requested a $210,000 ongoing appropriation for livestock-waste management work that had previously been a one-time item and $425,000 for a KEIMS database implementation; Drury said the latter is largely a two-phase project that includes roughly 300 contracted hours and aims to integrate KEIMS with federal e-reporting requirements. Drury noted the House added some of these enhancements back after the budget committee deleted them.

Committee members asked where fee increases would be filed and how long that process would take; Drury deferred to the agency for procedural detail, and Henning said the rulemaking and fee-change process could take "a year to a year and a half." Henning and Drury confirmed the Division plans to increase fees to stabilize the hazardous-waste fund but had not completed that rulemaking by the hearing.

Drury and Henning also discussed the State Water Plan Fund. Drury said the House—s FY2026 position leaves the fund estimated to be overappropriated in FY2026. Henning described carryover balances in several water programs, including $3.2 million carried over for small-town infrastructure (drinking-water and sewer upgrades for towns under 1,000 residents) and roughly $1—$1.5 million for the RAPS program. Henning told senators KDHE expects roughly $1 million in net carryover after planned commitments are executed.

Senators pressed KDHE on specific programs and eligibility. Henning described a revived rural groundwater and septic-system program that allocates funds to local county sanitarians to replace failing septic systems for qualifying low-income residents on a sliding scale, with documentation of income required. On livestock-waste management, Henning said KDHE often uses contracted engineers because the state has difficulty hiring full-time engineers; the contracts help clear a backlog of design reviews for confined animal feeding operations.

Questions from committee members included how restored FTEs will be funded, how one-time appropriations (such as KEIMS and hazardous-waste stabilization) will affect the FY2027 base, and how drinking-water protection funds are being used to address rising nitrate levels in public water systems. Henning said the drinking-water protection program seeks to implement best-management practices around source areas to reduce nitrate loading before communities must install expensive treatment systems.

The committee did not take a formal vote on KDHE items at this hearing; Drury and Henning offered to supply more line-item carryover detail and responses to procedural questions about fee changes and contract arrangements.

Ending: The committee requested additional documentation from Drury and KDHE on carryover balances, the status of fee-rulemaking for hazardous-waste stabilization, and details on the KEIMS database contracting plan; KDHE said it would follow up with a line-by-line accounting for committee members.